Pretty hot and no wind predicted. What to do? Steely-nerved Race Chairman Kevin Preuss decided to give it a shot. The wind showed up and we had a decent race. We only fire up all the race machinery every two weeks, so given the lack of forecast accuracy (other than maybe temperature) it is quite a crapshoot to bet on the wind forecast.
Thank you to Beth Auld, Cindy Bartlett, Bernice Rains and Bernice’s sister Heidi for doing an excellent job at anchoring and running the race from the Committee Boat. And to Jim and Mimi Riffle and Lisa Duret for keeping an eye on us from the safety boat. Jim Voelz and family set up an appropriately short course considering the wind. Kevin and Beth keep the machinery well oiled – Thanks all!
In the first race sailors made many practice runs at the starting line with a reliably steady wind from the west. Reliable until it counted of course. Just a moment before the starting horn was blown the wind died. Perfect positioning suddenly became imperfect, and all bets were off. While the wind eventually showed up again the start was not one to behold. The finish was though. Two tight groups of boats came across the finish line so close it was hard to record the time difference accurately. Matt Bartlett came in first just inches in front of Catey Hale and her crew Phil Bush. And inches behind them was Jim Voelz. About four minutes later the rest of the fleet finished within about 30ish seconds of one and other. The finish was nerve racking for the sailors as usual, trying to make it through the line without having to make that last tack.
The start of the second race was with good wind and was the usual nail-biter of getting through the line with and advantage over, but not fouling another craft. The downwind sections of both races were slow as molasses until rounding the final mark and heading for the finish line.
